Back in 2021, multiple tragic news stories of people being stranded in the wilderness elicited a wave of viral posts sharing some wise-sounding advice for if you're ever stuck somewhere without cell service and a low battery.The general suggestion was to your outgoing voicemail message to include your location. One version that went viral reads:"If ever lost while hiking, stranded with a broken-down vehicle or other emergency situation, if your cell phone battery is low here is a tip that can very well save your life. Change your outgoing voicemail on your phone to a message that gives your approximate location, the time, the date, your situation; lost, out of gas, car broken down, injured, etc... plus any special instructions such as; 'You are staying with the car', 'You are walking towards a town' If your cell phone dies, stops working or loses signal your voicemail will still be working. Anyone calling your phone will hear your emergency instructions. They will know you need help and know where to find you or where to send help."The problem is, the advice isn't wise after all. Yes, it sounds smart, but a Colorado rescue team explained why it's not.The Alpine Rescue Team posted its response to the viral post on Facebook, writing:"1. Without a signal (connection to the cell system) YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR VOICEMAIL. The voicemail system resides with your cell provider. To change your outgoing message, you have to CALL into your voicemail and then navigate the menus, record a new greeting, confirm the new greeting, etc. YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITH NO SIGNAL.2. If your battery is low do not waste its power by calling your voice mail—or a friend or relative. Call 9-1-1 for help.3. If you have no signal, text for help to 9-1-1. Many, if not most, 9-1-1 centers can receive a text.4. Text takes much less power, is far more likely to get through, will automatically retry many times if you have spotty service, leaves record others can see and can give you an indication that it got thru. BTW, because of the automatic retries, you can compose and hit send on a text and then get your phone as high as possible to improve the chances of getting the message out.5. Stay put. Okay, if you're lost or broken down and you've called for help (assuming you have signal and battery) please stay in one location—UNLESS YOU MUST MOVE FOR SAFETY REASONS. Changing your location makes our job more difficult. Trying to reach someone whose GPS location we have (within a circle, of course) is faster for us than trying to nail down a moving target. STAY PUT.6. Maximize battery life. In order to make the battery last longer, turn off everything you do not need. Close all apps. Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth. Don't use your cell phone as a GPS/map device and especially do not use the compass if your phone has one -- the compass feature in some phones is a serious battery drain. Pull out your map and compass and/or use a dedicated GPS unit. You may be instructed, by text, to turn your phone off and text back at a specific time. Also, keep your phone just a little warm with some body heat or a handwarmer." - YouTube www.youtube.com Many people probably think of their voicemail greeting as a recording saved on their phone, but it's not. A fact-check by USA Today, which consulted the top three carriers (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile), confirmed that cell service or a data connection is needed to change an outgoing voicemail message. You can do it over wi-fi, but that's not helpful if you're stranded on a mountain somewhere. You could change your voicemail greeting before you leave, letting people know where you're going to be adventuring if you feel comfortable with that, but once you're stuck without cell service, there's no changing it.This is a friendly remind that it's always wise to look for what the actual experts say before passing along a viral social media post, even if the advice it contains sounds smart initially.This article originally appeared four years ago.

When kids are going through a difficult health crisis, seeing their hero show up just to brighten their day can make a whole world of difference. They get a much needed boost of inspiration, joy, and maybe even a little bit of magic to brighten their day. That's exactly what the kids got over at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida after they were delightfully surprised by none other than T-Swizzle herself. “You made this a day we’ll never shake off. Thank you, @taylorswift13 for bringing your support and kindness to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital,” the hospital’s official X account tweeted. “You turned hospital hallways into a place of joy, comfort, and connection.”In a video posted online, we see a girl named Zoe drop her jaw in disbelief as Swift walks in and introduces herself (as if she needs any introduction).pic.twitter.com/MqKV8t6rh0— Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital (@JDCHospital) June 13, 2025 “What the????” the young Swiftie says before promptly putting her head in her hands.The “Blank Space” singer complimented Zoe on her cat eye nails, saying “Are you kidding me? That is beautiful!” before going in for a hug, taking a photo, and handing over a signed copy of her book. After that, Zoe literally swooned. In a different video, a teen boy named Jamar exclaims “OH MY GOD!” and goes into a laughing fit upon his Swift sighting. “This is the coolest room I’ve ever seen,” says Taylor, eying the hanging decorations. “Can I scream?” Jamarr asks. Obviously, the answer was yes.pic.twitter.com/R1ARKYm43l— Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital (@JDCHospital) June 13, 2025 Swift even says hello to his twin sister over FaceTime, who is equally elated.The visit, which certainly made the rounds online, was well-received, and Swift garnered a lot of praise and gratitude from viewers for her genuine kindness. “Something like this can definitely speed up the healing faster. 1000% positive,” one person wrote.Another added, “I'm not a swift fan but this made me tear up. Always use any power you have for good. This truly shined a light in these kids' lives. ”Celebrity visits to children's hospitals have a long history—notable examples include baseball legends like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the 1920s and Clayton Moore, aka The Lone Ranger , in the 1950s and 60s—and became more organized and widespread in the 1980s, with the establishment of organizations like Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.You made this a day we’ll never shake off. ?Thank you, @taylorswift13 for bringing your support and kindness to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. You turned hospital hallways into a place of joy, comfort, and connection. ✨ pic.twitter.com/GKVnQsGaFj— Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital (@JDCHospital) June 13, 2025 It’s worth noting that it's not just individual patients who benefit from celebrity visits. Their influence often draws attention to the needs of the hospital they are visiting, which can encourage donations for vital research, treatments, and support services. It’s truly an amazing way to use fame for good.If you'd like to donate to the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, click here.

Getting a colonoscopy is not something anyone looks forward to doing. You have to spend three days prepping for the procedure which includes drinking a "bowel preparation solution." That's just a fancy way of saying "taking an extremely powerful laxative that will have you lying on the bathroom floor too afraid to move because you finally expelled the gum you swallowed in third grade."Doctors and their fancy words to describe gross things, am I right? But hey, everybody poops. There's even a book about it for parents to read to toddlers who are potty training. The purpose of spending two days counting the tiles your sweat drips onto in the bathroom is to clean out your colon before doctors insert a camera to look for polyps, cancer, and other medical conditions. But when a patient went in for their appointment, doctors discovered something they didn't expect to find: a stowaway that had, somehow, survived the tsunami of poo.The patient was a 59 year old man who was being seen for a routine colonoscopy, the procedure where they take a small camera equipped with a light and send it up to traverse the colon and large intestine. It's a procedure that becomes part of a full preventative workup once you reach the age of 45 if you're at average risk for colon cancer according to MD Anderson Cancer Center (though doctors are now recommending colonoscopy screenings begin sooner due to rising cases of colon cancer in young people according to the Cancer Research Institute). Urgent dash to the bathroom! ??♂️Photo credit: CanvaWhen the camera rounded the bend, it caught a clear sight of a perfectly intact ladybug who, despite the likely terror it experienced, was still alive. The findings of the patient's friendly colon passenger was reported in the 2019 ACG Case Reports Journal complete with pictures of the spotted little fella just hanging out inside a human cavity. While the doctors have no way of determining how the ladybug wound up inside the man's body, they believe it was likely swallowed accidentally and escaped the wing destroying stomach acid due to the bowel preparation solution speeding up the process. The ladybug likely felt like it was on a weird waterslide or, if it's seen The Magic School Bus, it might have assumed Mrs. Frizzle had something to do with its unexpected adventure. Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: The American College of Gastroenterology“The patient's colonoscopy preparation was 1 gallon of polyethylene glycol the evening before colonoscopy, and the colonoscopy examination was otherwise normal,” the authors of the journal write. “His colonoscopy preparation may have helped the bug to escape from digestive enzymes in the stomach and upper small intestine.”If you're going to have a bug hang out in your poop chute, a ladybug is likely the preferred unexpected guest. Gastrointestinal specialist Dr. Keith Siau likes to share the things he and his colleagues have found inside patients and a ladybug is probably the least gross option for critters. He's found ants, cockroaches, and bees (yes, bees that help pollinate flowers and sting people who disturb their important business). Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: The American College of GastroenterologyPeople cannot get over doctors finding bugs in people's colons during colonoscopies, while others have jokes about the random bugs found inside people. One person writes, "Oh, that’s just the magic school bus. They transformed into a lady bug for the field trip.""Don’t take it out until you play the power ball," another says."Taking the title of invasive species a little far," somebody jokes.No creature left bee hind ? https://t.co/VR70DtI15s— Keith Siau (@drkeithsiau) June 23, 2025 "So I already worry about bugs getting into my ears, now I gotta worry about bugs up my butt? I hate it here," another cries."I’ve always had a fear of ingesting a bug or parasite and them finding it one day. I know that’s crazy but I think about it often. Seeing this affirmed my fear of the unknown," someone else shares. "I could have gladly lived the rest of my life without knowing this." one person writes.Well, if you're due for your routine colonoscopy here's hoping they don't find any unauthorized critters and you get a clean bill of health.

Great band deserving recognition. The post The post-punk band Iggy Pop called “fine art” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

The starlet’s legs were insured for a staggering amount of money.

by Matt Margolis, PJ Media: Donald Trump isn’t known for sugarcoating his opinions, especially when it comes to political rivals. It’s also not every day you see a political cold war start to thaw right before your eyes, but that’s exactly what appears to be happening. In a moment that no one could have predicted […]

Dr. Clint Steele: A study found that taking 550 milligrams of magnesium can decrease the risk of dementia by as much as 41%. "They took 6,000 people… between the ages of 43 and 70. They gave one group 350 milligrams of magnesium. They gave the other group 550 milligrams of… pic.twitter.com/aUouCzrcXl — Wide Awake Media […]